J Immunol . Cutting Edge: Lung-Resident T Cells Elicited by SARS-CoV-2 Do Not Mediate Protection Against Secondary Infection

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J Immunol


. 2021 Oct 4;ji2100608.
doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2100608. Online ahead of print.
Cutting Edge: Lung-Resident T Cells Elicited by SARS-CoV-2 Do Not Mediate Protection Against Secondary Infection


Lydia M Roberts ¹ , Forrest Jessop ¹ , Tara D Wehrly ¹ , Catharine M Bosio ²



Affiliations

• PMID: 34607940
• DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2100608

Abstract

Immunity to pulmonary infection typically requires elicitation of lung-resident T cells that subsequently confer protection against secondary infection. The presence of tissue-resident T cells in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) convalescent patients is unknown. Using a sublethal mouse model of coronavirus disease 2019, we determined if SARS-CoV-2 infection potentiated Ag-specific pulmonary resident CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell responses and if these cells mediated protection against secondary infection. S protein-specific T cells were present in resident and circulating populations. However, M and N protein-specific T cells were detected only in the resident T cell pool. Using an adoptive transfer strategy, we found that T cells from SARS-CoV-2 immune animals did not protect naive mice. These data indicate that resident T cells are elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection but are not sufficient for protective immunity.